Dell to employ 10,000 in India by year-end

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US personal computer giant Dell Inc has announced that its
Indian subsidiary would employ 10,000 people by year-end and will
continue to expand.

Kevin Rollins, Dell's president and chief executive officer,
said the company's global product group, a global development unit,
sales and service operations, and call centres in India employ 8000
people today.

"By the end of this year our team should be 10,000 strong and it
has been growing consistently," Rollins told reporters in
Bangalore, where most of the compnay's operations are based.

"The talent base and capability here is second to none," he
said.

Bangalore, home to more than 1500 technology firms, exports more
than one-third of India's software. India has the second largest
pool of English-speaking graduates in the world.

Rollins said Dell had revised its revenue target from $US60
billion ($A76.98 billion) to $US80 billion to be achieved in the
next three to four years.

"It is turning Dell from a personal computer-maker into a
broad-based information technology supply company handling
customers, consumers, global corporations and offering
opportunities for a country like India," he said.

"We are a global company and we seek the best talent in every
region. India has been a wonderful source of that. We will move
into more cities in the future," he said.

Dell recently opened a call centre in the northern city of
Chandigarh and has a similar facility in southern Hyderabad.

However, last year it moved one of its call centres based in
Bangalore out of India due to the poor quality of its
English-speaking employees.

Rollins defended the move and attributed it to the company's
failure to manage a rapidly growing business in India.

"We were growing too much, too fast, in too many places. Now we
have slowed down and prioritised our growth. It was a
misunderstanding," he said.

According to the National Association of Software and Service
Companies, India's five year-old outsourcing industry is set to
grow by 40 percent and hit revenues of $US5.1 billion this
year.

It predicts that the movement of jobs from western countries to
India could hit 1.2 million by 2008 and bring in revenues of
between $US21 billion to $US24 billion.

Rollins said Dell would not evolve into a full-fledged IT
services company.

"Our strategy is to stay close to our hardware and add to that
menu over time. We know our hardware well and then provide
outsourcing around it with a small 'o'," he said.

Rollins said the fastest growing segement for the company was
servers, printing and imaging, and flat panel products.

"Fifty percent of the company's revenues now come from outside
the United States mainly from Asia, Japan and Europe," he said.